The Long Take Review

At a time when so much of public discourse surrounding A.I. swirls in fear and doom, it is rare to find a movie about a robot that does not tap into that sentiment. From Minority Report (2002) to Ex Machina (2014), Hollywood often adopts the position of a canary in the coal mine, trying to warn everyone about our robot overlords. And considering corporate interest in using artificial intelligence to replace human creators, I don’t necessarily blame them for wanting to do that, especially now.

Chris Sanders’ The Wild Robot, however, defies that popular narrative, with a fresh take has been welcomed by critics. Many go so far as to suggest that the film deserves to be nominated not only for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, but for Best Picture, joining the ranks of the few animated films that have made that jump: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Up (2009), and Toy Story 3 (2010). But how justified is that hype?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I debate how well the film could do (and deserves to do). We also discuss what parts of the film had an emotional impact on us, what the film is trying to say about A.I., how this adaptation differs from its source material, what voice performances stand out, and more.

Before we dive into The Wild Robot, however, we check in to discuss our picks for Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League, in which players must draft 8 movies that were pre-priced based on buzz. Who made a big play for box office numbers? Who went for potential awards attention? Who just went with their heart? Listen to about the first 30 minutes of this episode to find out! Registration for the draft has closed, but if you already registered, you can still join us by emailing [email protected] to say that you’d like “The Long Take Review” to be your “mini-league” before October 14th. We are just one person short of being able to compete for prizes, so please help us out if you can! Plus, our highest-scoring mini-league member will be able to come on the show and discuss a film of their choice.

The Movie Fantasy League talk ends at 30:46 when we start the Short Take on The Wild Robot. We later go into SPOILER MODE at the 42:24 minute mark. If you’re still not yet sure whether you want to check out the film, pause there!

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What if The Scarlet Witch from the MCU, Nora Durst from The Leftovers, and Charlie Cale from Poker Face were trapped in a tiny New York City apartment for several days? I jest, in part; Elizabeth Olsen, Carrie Coon, and Natasha Lyonne play characters who are distinct from their more well-known roles, but they do get to flex their acting muscles in His Three Daughters, a dramatic chamber piece now streaming on Netflix.

The film’s story follows three semi-estranged women who reunite to guide their father through his final days of life. The astringent dialogue offers a thoughtful character study as the claustrophobic milieu facilitates a poignant meditation on death and dying. But could this film be too small and too insular to get any Oscar love?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Antonio, and I laud all three of these actresses for their outstanding work and, at the end of the episode, contemplate the film’s Oscar prospects. When dissecting the film itself, we contemplate why it feels so much like a stage play, debate why that might enhance or detract from the film, consider what the film has to say about death, dying, and family, and, because we couldn’t help ourselves, we share which of the three daughters we would each be.

You can hear our official plug for this at the very end of the episode, but we’d love for listeners to join us in Vulture’s Movie Fantasy League, in which players must draft 8 movies that have been pre-priced based on buzz. After registration closes tomorrow night, Thursday October 3rd at 11:59, your team can gain points for box office success (if it hasn’t come out yet), critical reception, and awards recognition. You can play this game with us by entering “The Long Take Review” as your “mini-league.” Join us in movie nerdom and all the Oscar season insanity!

We go into SPOILER MODE around the 21:57 minute mark. If you’re not yet sure whether you want to check out the film, listen up until then.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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When legendary artists have really made it, they should be able to do anything, right? Their creativity unfettered and untethered from pleasing others or financial concerns. By this margin, Francis Ford Coppola is living the dream. He became an icon for classics such as The Godfather (1972) and Apocalypse Now (1979). And for forty years he has been working on his magnum opus called Megalopolis. He funded the entire film — $120 million — by taking a line of credit out on his own winery No one could put a damper on his creative vision.

And the result, suffice it to say, is unlike anything any of us have ever seen. But is that a good thing? Is this film going to change cinema forever because it’s so experimental? Or is this more of an emperor’s new clothes situation? On this episode of The Long Take Review, Antonio, Greg, P.T., and I share our fairly unanimous response to the film, and then go on to try to make sense of its themes, socio-political commentary, and stylistic choices. You’ll have to hear us talk about it to believe it!

We go into SPOILER MODE pretty quickly on this one, around the 14:51 minute mark.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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For movie nerds and, more fervently, awards season nerds like me, fall is a wonderful time of year because it is nothing but possibility and potential. Like Schrodinger’s cat, movies are both good and bad until you actually see them for yourself. As I impatiently wait to do that, though, there are some indicators: reactions from critics and journalists attending film festivals, awards given by festivals, and whether films without a home score a deal with a big distributor.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Greg, P.T., and I process and analyze all these indicators coming out of three festivals that have recently concluded: Venice (yes, the one in Italy), Telluride (that’s in Colorado), and Toronto (a.k.a. TIFF). We present our conclusions by listing a set of “winners” and “losers,” though we introduced the idea of “soft” and “hard” losers and it got complicated from there. Listen to find out which movies we’re more excited to see, which we can almost certainly dismiss, and who, if anyone, has emerged as a frontrunner in this early, but very real, phase of the Oscar race.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Box office, box office, box office! Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel to his 1988 hit has conjured a successful opening weekend at $111 million domestic. This may indicate that audiences show no sign of fatigue for nostalgia-laden sequels (which is good news for Gladiator 2, perhaps?). But how does Beetlejuice Beetlejuice fare as a 36 years later follow-up to one of Burton’s best? Does it contain clunky fan service moments like Alien: Romulus? Or is it more of a fun, don’t-think-about-it-too-hard hang like Deadpool & Wolverine? How well does the Beetlejuice ethos jive with 2024 sensibilities?

These are the questions we try to answer on this week’s episode of The Long Take Review. Greg, P.T., and I share what parts of the film entertained us most, as well as try to devise a thesis for the film. Later in the episode, we fancy ourselves armchair screenwriters, offering up some suggestions for restructuring and recentering the story. Along the way, P.T. breaks multiple pieces of bad news to Greg while Greg regales us with his movie set looky-loo-ing. Take a number and have a seat because we might be a while…

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Alien franchise, suffice it to say, has legs. Xenomorphs and facehuggers are among the most iconic sci-fi creatures in movie history. And multiple directors, including legends Ridley Scott and James Cameron, have made nine Alien films in 45 years. And it would seem that the latest installment, Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, shows that interest in watching people fight gooey space parasites has not waned. The worldwide box office currently sits at $289.5 million, and it had the second highest opening weekend of any Alien movie to date.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, and I compare Alien: Romulus to many other Alien movies (and we’ve all seen different ones!), and in doing so contemplate the contribution the film makes to the franchise overall. P.T. gives not one but two mind-melding monologues: one about the behind-the-scenes story of the original Alien’s development and another about the academic discourse surrounding the franchise’s subversion of gendered horror stereotypes. We talk artificial intelligence, corporate capitalism, horror vs. thriller, and whether or not it’s possible to be an auteur in a franchise sandbox. The bell has rung and class is in session on this one.

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Director Sean Wang has arrived. His documentary short film, “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó,” landed an Oscar nomination and, a few months later, his first narrative feature film, Didi, won the Audience Award for the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

While “Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó” has been available to watch on Disney+ for some time, Didi just released in theaters at the end of July. It offers a window into the life of Chris, a Taiwanese-American teenager, the summer before he starts high school. He must traverse friends, family, girls, parties, and online life in 2008. 

No matter how much critical praise Didi, collects, it may get drowned out amidst all of the flashier Oscar contenders on the verge of premiering in the coming weeks. Can Sean Wang strike Oscar nom gold again? Or is an indie coming of age film too small to last all the way through the season?

On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I try to read the tea leaves and speculate as to Didi’s future. We each share what aspects of the film resonated with us personally, celebrate its funniest moments, and reflect on the halcyon days of AOL Instant Messenger. 

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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When I think of the genre of prison drama, what do I think of? As a child of the 90s, Shawshank Redemption (1994) and The Green Mile (1999) come to mind first; the former in particular defined the genre forever thereafter. I think of the struggle to survive, full of violence and terror. I think of the bleakness of never getting out and the desperate scheming to escape or undermine the system. I think of crime and corruption perpetuated within the carceral system itself.

Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, in theaters now, defies all of these expectations. While it does not shy away from the oppressive confinement of prison life, it offers a story of the hope and joy experienced by inmates participating in the RTA or Rehabilitation Through the Arts Program, which began in 1996 at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. It’s a moving love letter to the dramatic arts, and is never exploitative or voyeuristic.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I identify ways in which Sing Sing subverts prison movie stereotypes, reflect on how the film represents incarceration, and try to understand how this film achieves its authenticity and avoids saccharine storytelling. Could it be an early frontrunner in the Oscar race? Is Coleman Domingo a shoe-in for Best Actor, hot off his nomination last year? And what additional insight can Antonio’s legal background offer our interpretation of the film? Join our conversation to find out.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Movie News Update: What’s going on with Joaquin and Todd? (But not the Todd you think.) 3:50

The Short Take: Our spoiler-free review Sing Sing. 12:57

The Recommendation Algorithm: Why might folks who wouldn’t normally go for a movie about prison want to watch this? How does it align with or subvert the prison movie genre? 18:23

SPOILER MODE: How does this film represent incarceration and the criminal justice system? What is it trying to say about the prison system? Featuring Lessons in the Law with Antonio! 24:28

The Rhetorical Situation: How does this film represent theater and the arts? What does this film have in common with our teaching? 51:45

Oscars Watch: This movie seems poised to make an Oscar play. How far can it go? 1:01:11

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As summer blockbuster season winds down and awards season just starts to warm up with a flurry of fall film festivals, P.T., Greg, and I thought it would be a great time to nerd out about Star Wars. First, we react to some recent news coming out of the D23 Expo (including a movie! finally!), and then we review the entire season of The Acolyte that concluded on Disney+ a few weeks ago. That naturally brings us to a ranking exercise. We debate, negotiate, and conciliate to put all the Disney+ Star Wars series in order from best to worst. How will our takes and favs line up with yours? What fan edits would P.T. make to The Acolyte? And how many times can Greg crack jokes about Jude Law’s filmography? Search your feelings, connect to The Force, and join us for a fun conversation.

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[SPOILER ALERT: Unlike our regular reviews, this will have spoilers for all of Star Wars from the very beginning.]

Movie News Update: We react to Star Wars news coming out of D23. When is the next time we’ll see Star Wars on a screen, both big and small? 3:58

The Short Take: What were our impressions of The Acolyte, now that we’ve had a few weeks to sit with it? This also kind of free flows to a capacious discussion of The Acolyte in general. 44:30

Our Disney+ Star Wars Rankings We try to come to a consensus on how we should rank all 8 series. 1:52:48

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LFG!!! Deadpool & Wolverine has slashed its way through multiple box office records. Its opening weekend has made more money than any other R-rated movie, and it’s currently in sixth place for the highest-grossing weekend of all time. Will it have the summer movie legs to join last summer’s winner, Barbie, in the billion dollar club? And what does this success signify? Does it portend anything for the future of the MCU? Or is it more a testament to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s collective star power?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, Colby Mead of The Colbycast joins us to debate these questions, as well as respond to complaints from the critics who aren’t exactly screaming LFG. We consider who this movie is for, what it’s about, and how much prior knowledge is actually required to appreciate the jokes and story. We share all our favorite moments. We may have even stumble upon a working thesis. This recording was longer than the movie itself, but you’ll want to stick around to hear Colby’s brilliant thoughts about Marvel hero history, P.T.’s explanation of how the multiverse works in this film, and Jen’s pitch for an Alpha Flight movie (well, maybe that last one’s not worth sticking around for).

You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Image Credit: LA Times

Movie News Update: We react to big MCU news coming out of San Diego Comic Con and Deadpool & Wolverine’s box office boom. 4:03

The Short Take: Our spoiler-free review of Deadpool & Wolverine. 30:54

The Recommendation Algorithm: Who should go see Deadpool & Wolverine? What do you need to have seen (and how old do you need to be) to deeply appreciate the humor in this film? 35:44

SPOILER MODE: Does this movie have a story? What’s the thesis of this movie? Then we share our favorite cameos, jokes, fight scenes, etc. 50:28

Our favs/superlatives. 1:41:00

The Rhetorical Situation: How do feel like this film engages with the history of these characters and the history of comic book movies? 2:10:27

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